why was UD Synergy so poorly received ??

[icefields]

never understood why it was considered the new "score" card set.
i like the design of the cards and their makeup/feel
its a very limited set, only two parallels and the bounty cards.
so what was wrong with it.
thanx guys/gals

[odjickfan]

It's what you get for 100$ that is wrong. 1 auto per 5 boxes, maybe one numbered card per box. Even the true RCs and numbered base cards aren't selling for much. At 40CAD, I would think of breaking one maybe. I'm building the regular Career Spanning and I'll be picking a random Habs card here and there and that will be enough for me.

[ronfir]

Way too long on the odds of pulling anything great. So why waste the money? I did a few boxes and lucked out with a Carey Price auto and one Boeser rookie but that was it. Boxes from the initial order are still setting on the shelf at the two locals where I buy. Nobody is buying that product.

[Stryfex]

I think one huge fail they made is they gave it a premium price but for cards that don't appeal to premium collectors - big spenders want low numbered cards, autographs and premium materials - none of which are anywhere to be found in Synergy.

They did one thing sort of right where they said "hey, let's make a product that is only like $100 CDN per box" but then they included so few packs that a pack cost like $12-15 CDN which was insane for the value in a pack (like $3).

The quality and design was honestly very refreshing and I probably would have busted a bunch of it the price of the product made sense - even today on DACardWorld it regularly goes on sale for like $55 USD and it doesn't sell because at that price it's still WAY too expensive for it's value

[Maggot]

17-18 was a tough year for hockey sales in general, let alone for a new product.

Then there's all the other factors already mentioned that made this product a giant ripoff.

[icefields]

all sounds reasonable.
i remember back in 04/05 the itg franchises boxes were about 50 bucks and all you got from that was 1 non base card. and most of the "hits" booked at around 10-15 dollars. that turned me off the product although i still acquired the hits on ebay.
thanx for your answers.

[RGM81]

Like a lot of releases, there were some cards in there that looked really cool but also a lot of fluff that buried them. The price point didn't help.

Hockey collectors are a fun bunch - we complain that it's the "same ole same ole" stuff year after year, but then they try something new and people want the old stuff back.

[30ranfordfan]

Like a lot of releases, there were some cards in there that looked really cool but also a lot of fluff that buried them. The price point didn't help.

Hockey collectors are a fun bunch - we complain that it's the "same ole same ole" stuff year after year, but then they try something new and people want the old stuff back.

Big time! If we open a box that has next-to-nothing for GU / Auto hits... there's no value. If we open a box with two of each, we complain that there's too much of it, and they all suck, so what's the point of making them?

Look at this forum.... on the front page: Most of the top threads (for views and replies) are based around complaints or criticism of cards or "the hobby".

[Maggot]

Big time! If we open a box that has next-to-nothing for GU / Auto hits... there's no value. If we open a box with two of each, we complain that there's too much of it, and they all suck, so what's the point of making them?

I don't agree, look at the two rock-steady hobby staples: UD and OPC. Little to nothing in the way of "hits".

The problem with Synergy was deeper than that. If they're going to make a hit-free product, it needs to appeal to the old school collector. Synergy did not, in my opinion, because it had only 2 parallels and a couple of inserts. 0 variety. Short checklist. No excitement whatsoever. Plus it was expensive, and you only got a few cards from a box. It failed to appeal to anyone.

[30ranfordfan]

I may have worded my prior post poorly, because I don't disagree with anything you just said.

UD Series 1/2 & OPC do well because people actually want the cards. Young Guns are not rare in the least... not by modern cardboard standards anyway.... yet they continue to outsell many other Rookie Cards, despite the other ones having FAR fewer copies.

Set builders drive interest in those two sets.... how many people do you think tried to complete a set of Synergy? (or Ice, Black Diamond, Premier, SP Game Used, Trilogy, etc).

So even for the big "Rookie Card" hits of someone like Brock Boesser (who was among the top rookies in 17-18 products): How many of those cards are really keepers for most collectors? Even more to the point.... a Boesser from any set would have some value, but if you pulled a Trilogy RC of Riely Barber - who actually wants that? Who needs that for their set? Their player collection? Probably nobody. His YG would be wanted by set builders though.

For the price of wax these days, something has to be delivered in that box to make people want it. What's the difference between a Synergy base card #ed /17, or an SPx parallel /25 ? Honestly, I don't think much.

Adding an autograph, patch, or low serial number is done in the name of making something "collectible". Makes cards collectible enough, and there is perceived value there - justifying the high cost to buy a random assortment of them. The problem is - the majority of cards made every year are not collectible at all. Nobody wants them..... and no bounty program is going to save a set that doesn't interest collectors.

UD 1/2 & OPC get by without any big hits (as defined by other products) - but pretty much all other releases take a hit if they don't offer multiple hits per box.

I don't agree, look at the two rock-steady hobby staples: UD and OPC. Little to nothing in the way of "hits".

The problem with Synergy was deeper than that. If they're going to make a hit-free product, it needs to appeal to the old school collector. Synergy did not, in my opinion, because it had only 2 parallels and a couple of inserts. 0 variety. Short checklist. No excitement whatsoever. Plus it was expensive, and you only got a few cards from a box. It failed to appeal to anyone.